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Nov 28, 2008 7:16 pm US/Central
Resort Expands To Entice Locals To Ski The Slopes
WELCH, Minn. (WCCO) ―
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Welch Village is less than an hour drive south of the Twin Cities in the Cannon River valley.
CBS
Despite a tough economy, at least one Minnesota company sees an opportunity.
Welch Village is less than an hour drive south of the Twin Cities in the Cannon River valley.
The 43-year-old ski resort hopes tighter family budgets will keep more skiers closer to home and less tempted to take a trip out west.
On this Friday after Thanksgiving, the traditional start to Minnesota's ski season, enthusiasts couldn't have asked for a more perfect day.
The skies were sunny, the temperatures warm and many of the opened slopes were filled with skiers.
"They are so anxious to get out here and try their new stuff," said the resort's president, Leigh Nelson.
Since 1965, Nelson has opened his Welch Village Resort by skiing each run to make sure it's ready for customers. This year, he's excited about something that's not quite ready. On the mountain's back side, Nelson said, "we still have more work to do up in that valley."
He's looking at the excavation work that's nearing completion. On the back side of the resort's main runs, work is progressing on 12 new and more challenging runs, all of them black diamonds.
The chair lift is ready for to be strung with cable and then fitted with the four place chairs. In the next week to 10 days, Nelson says, visitors can expect the new runs to be covered with fresh snow.
Why is the expansion a big deal? At one time Minnesota was home to 34 ski resorts. Just 13 remain in business, so it's vitally important for the remaining resorts to give skiers more of what they want, and fewer reasons to go elsewhere.
"Our hope is that because of the nature of these [more difficult] runs, people who would normally go west to ski sometime during the season, maybe they'll come here and try it here," said Nelson.
Skiers Tom Shingledecker and Aaron Schiller from Hastings said they like what they see.
"I've been waiting for this for a while. It's something new, it's nice they're expanding, making it better for everyone here," said Shingledecker.
That thought is echoed by his skiing pal Schiller, who added, "we just looked back there last year, it looks like it's going to be good. They got the new trail lift and everything."
Nelson says the trend towards more "stay-cations" will keep costs down for families, while at the same time help put more money into the local economies.
"So far we've made it go, so hopefully it will keep going," he added.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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